European Space Agency, ESA | Did you know we almost had a second moon? 🌚 #shorts @EuropeanSpaceAgency | Uploaded July 2024 | Updated October 2024, 1 week ago.
In 2016, scientists spotted Kamo’oalewa ,a 40 to 100 metre object, during a planetary defence survey to discover space rocks that could possibly hit our planet.
At first, the object appeared to orbit Earth in a similar way to our Moon. But astronomers found it was actually orbiting the Sun on a very similar path to Earth. So, Kamo’oalewa was demoted from a potential new moon to a near-Earth asteroid and a quasi-satellite to Earth.
However, the asteroid's connection to the Moon could run deeper. The object's Earth-like orbit and Moon-like composition may indicate that it was created when a chunk of the Moon was thrown into space by an asteroid impact.
📹 ESA - European Space Agency
#ESA #Moon #InternationalMoonDay
In 2016, scientists spotted Kamo’oalewa ,a 40 to 100 metre object, during a planetary defence survey to discover space rocks that could possibly hit our planet.
At first, the object appeared to orbit Earth in a similar way to our Moon. But astronomers found it was actually orbiting the Sun on a very similar path to Earth. So, Kamo’oalewa was demoted from a potential new moon to a near-Earth asteroid and a quasi-satellite to Earth.
However, the asteroid's connection to the Moon could run deeper. The object's Earth-like orbit and Moon-like composition may indicate that it was created when a chunk of the Moon was thrown into space by an asteroid impact.
📹 ESA - European Space Agency
#ESA #Moon #InternationalMoonDay
